A New Project!

This is the time of year when I always pull out any red, white and blue quilts to display around the house. This is also when I tend to think about making something in those colors. I've been working on some very simple blocks from a pattern called Woven Squares. It was originally published in Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts magazine, Winter 2016. It is also available on their website HERE.

For my version, I am using a single white print background, but went scrappy with the reds and blues. My quilt will be smaller, with 48 blocks instead of the 80 shown in the pattern. So far, half of my blocks are complete.

My goal for today is to finish making the remaining 24 blocks, and maybe start joining them together. This will probably become a Quilt of Valor, which means it will require a border or two to get it up to the required size.

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 21, 2019

There was plenty of quilting going on around here last week, but also a little garment sewing. I used to make lots of clothing for myself, but haven't done so for several years. Last week I made a quick t-shirt with a pattern borrowed from my mother and a cute fabric remnant I'd found. I don't track clothing fabric as part of my stash report, so it doesn't change my numbers, but you can get a look at the new shirt.

I did finish a set of 12 Orange Stairsteps blocks (see a photo in yesterday's post) for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Fabric used: 5/8 yard, and no new fabric added.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          .625 yards

Used year to date:                   14.875 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:         12.875 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I worked on a few different quilting projects throughout the week, getting in some quilting time every single day!

15 Minute Challenge:  

5/19- 5/25               7 of 7 days

2019 Total         133 of 145 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 21, 2019

We are nearing the end of our month of orange scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Last week I spent lots of time cutting more black, grey and white prints for my Stairsteps blocks. I'm hoping that I now have enough pieces cut for all the blocks I will make, but won't be sure until much later in the year.

 I also made my twelve orange blocks for the month. Bright and cheery!

The layout plan for combining all the colors keeps changing. Here is my current favorite idea with four colors; it would probably require 9 or 10 different colors.

Once I make four more red blocks, I will be halfway done making blocks for this quilt. I can't wait to see what color we get to work with in June!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 20, 2019

I missed sharing my stash report last Sunday, but it was for a very good reason. I had a few days off from work and decided to spend Mother's Day weekend with my mother in Wisconsin. Instead of blogging, I was enjoying time with family, plus contributing to the local economy around Madison by visiting a few quilt shops with Mom and my sister Karen. Here is what came home with me.

There are no specific plans for any of these fabrics; they are just additions to the stash of a few things I liked. They are all quarter yard pieces.

On the outgoing side, I used 3/8 yard for the binding on the Giraffes baby quilt and 1/4 yard for an orange Framed Crumb Star. It's not enough to offset the additions, but at least a little got used.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          .625 yards

Used year to date:                     14.25 yards
Added last week:                         1.75 yards

Added year to date:                    27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:         13.5 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I was able to find some quilting time every day over the past two weeks, even while I was out of town--thanks goodness for hand applique!

15 Minute Challenge:  

5/5 - 5/18            14 of 14 days

2019 Total         126 of 138 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 20, 2019

The scrappy orange fun continues with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge all through the month of May. My main orange stitching for the past week was to make my Framed Crumb Star. 

Before anyone new asks, there's no published pattern for this block (at least, not that I know of.) My blocks will finish at 12". The crumb center is a 4" finished square (4.5" with seam allowances) and the frame around the outside is made with 2.5" squares.

There was some time during the week for hand stitching too, and I finished five more Orange Peel blocks in orange. Here they are with the crumb star.

Seeing those Orange Peel blocks next to the star block makes me think they might look good as the border on a rainbow quilt. Probably best on a quilt with similar black and dark grey backgrounds--maybe a project for next year?

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Rainbow Saturday--Week 19, 2019

There hasn't been much time this week to play with my orange scraps, our color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Fortunately, I had gotten a little bit of a head start on my Orange Peel blocks in orange because I finished up the teal blocks before the end of April.

I've finished off 10 blocks already and have two more prepped, plus plenty more squares that could become blocks. There's no telling how many orange Orange Peels there might be by the end of May!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework and Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Giraffes Baby Quilt finished!

My One Monthly Goal for April was to finish this baby quilt by the end of the month. I didn't meet that goal, but I did manage to finish the quilt before the baby was born!

Giraffes in a Row
pattern by Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts
37" x 45"

The quilting on the giraffes is all stitch-in-the-ditch, and I did a loose stippling in the background areas.

Here is another view of the adorable flannel print that was used on the back. That fabric may be my favorite thing about this quilt!



I'm already planning to make another version of this quilt, maybe using prints instead of solids.

Linking up to:

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Let's Make Baby Quilts at Michelle's Romantic Tangle
Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Favorite Finish at Meadow Mist Designs

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday--5/6/2019

While looking through my past blog posts, I discovered that the last time I shared my Flying Dutchman blocks was almost exactly six months ago. Here is the photo that I shared at that time.

Dutchman's Puzzle/Flying Dutchman block variations

After a block-making binge last week, the numbers have grown significantly. I'm still uncertain about a plan for how they will all go together, but have been having fun choosing fabric combinations for additional blocks. I do know that I plan to add something as sashing or framing for the blocks. The finished sizes for the blocks are 8" and 12". Here are a couple of layout ideas. 

Vertical columns

Horizontal rows (same photo as the first, but rotated 90 degrees)

Diagonal setting of 12" blocks

The large block with the blue background keeps jumping out at me in all the photos, and I can't decide if I like that or not. I should probably make a couple more blocks using blue similar background colors to help it fit in better. Making decisions is hard--that's why this project keeps getting put back into a box and ignored for six months at a time!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. I'm a day late, but I'm also linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 18, 2019

The past week found me with all my different projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge up to date. While waiting for the new color for May to be announced, I went through my UFO boxes, looking for something to work on. I was hoping that blue might be our color for the month (nope, it's orange) so I pulled out my Flying Dutchman variation blocks and made a few more. These new blocks used a total of 7/8 yard. No new fabric was added.

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                          .875 yards

Used year to date:                   13.625 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                     26.0 yards
Net stashed year to date:      12.375 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I'm still keeping up with quilting every day, frequently more than project per day. 

15 Minute Challenge:  

4/28 - 5/4               7 of 7 days

2019 Total        112 of 124 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA